Lotus

Compared to some other British car manufacturers, Lotus is a relative newcomer, founded by Colin Chapman in 1948. But Lotus has built a legend around its incredible history, including a long string of celebrated sports cars and seven Formula One Championships. Chapman's innovative designs emphasized simplicity and lightness. In 1957, Chapman introduced two cars that exemplified this approach: the elegant Lotus Elite sports coupe and the Lotus 7, a minimalist high-performance roadster. The 7 remains in production after almost 50 years, built by Lotus until 1973, then by Caterham Cars, which bought the manufacturing rights. Lotus won its first Formula One victory in 1960, and its first World Championship in 1963. The Lotus Esprit sports car, produced from 1976 to 2004, turned heads from the start, particularly when it appeared in a James Bond movie as a car with submarine capabilities. After Chapman died in 1982, the company changed hands. Under GM ownership from 1986 to 1993, Lotus turned the modest Vauxhall Carlton sedan into a 176-mph 'super-saloon,' the first of the genre that has been adopted by many manufacturers today. Current models include the Elise roadster, the Exige coupe, and the Evora. These diminutive composite-bodied sports cars on aluminum frames maintain Lotus' reputation for obtaining big performance from lightweight packages.

1999 Lotus Elise Sport

The original Elise was so lightweight that the run-of-the-mill Rover engine, barely wheezing out 118 horsepower, was more than enough to allow the Lotus to embarrass much more powerful sportscars. Corners? Forget about it, the Elise makes go-karts look like land barges. So when Lotus snagged the (very British-sounding) Very High Performance Derivative version of the K-series engine from the Rover parts bin to create the limited production Sport, the resulting 192 horsepower output in the bantamweight chassis had the effect of turning the insanity up to 11. When you told a Lotus dealer that you wanted a Sport (or presented a regular-spec car for conversion), it set Lotus’ highly-skilled race technicians a-flutter, hand-modifying the Elise with competition-ready componentry like a roll bar, thin-shell race seats, and of course suspension and brake upgrades. The result is breathtaking; it’s a very small car that can do very big things, like dash to 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds. While that’s impressive, just like the Sport’s less burly Elise siblings, its forte is lateral acceleration. That means the twisties are its natural habitat, and you’ll quickly understand why Lotus’ commitment to “adding lightness” has given them the reputation for making some of the best-handling cars around.

1990 Lotus Carlton

From an automaker best known for their elfin racers and commitment to lightness, the large Carlton seems a bizarre vehicle to emerge wearing a Lotus badge. An executive sedan tweaked within an inch of its life, Lotus’ engineering expertise allowed the Lotus Carlton to be the fastest sedan in the world for a period of time. Born at a time when General Motors owned both Lotus and Vauxhall/Opel, the idea was to build a halo car wearing the Lotus badge to generate some attention to the brand. By boring out and then twin-turbocharging the Vauxhall inline six, the 377 horsepower Carlton got a bit too much attention—the 180 mph-capable sedan became so wildly controversial in Britain that law enforcement sometimes spoke of banning it from the road. Perhaps the police were simply jealous, as no cruiser in the UK could catch a Carlton on a clear motorway. In an era where traction control devices weren’t even a glimmer in a safety-conscious engineer’s eye, there are no nannies to turn off, meaning the Carlton can engage in smile-inducing tail slides on command. And lest you think that it’s merely an unruly straight-line ruffian, Lotus did also tune the suspension; it’s no Elise, but you’d be surprised what the big Carlton is capable of.

2009 Lotus Evora

Can one sportscar have it all? The Evora comes awfully close to perfection, offering famous Lotus handling and performance in a refined, modern package. Lotus’ lightweight manta is on display in the Evora’s lightweight bonded aluminum skeleton, a high-tech way to achieve the telepathic driver feedback Lotus has always been known for. It’s also more livable than Lotus’ smaller offering, making it a high-performance sportscar that you don’t have to be a contortionist to squeeze into. Not that the Evora’s gone soft; forward motivation is briskly provided by a refined V6 sourced from Toyota, recalibrated for high performance and making a healthy 276 horsepower. The sophistication extends to the styling, which is sophisticated and restrained, while at the same time looking fast without resorting to lots of boy-racer bobbles and add-ons. And don’t forget that the sleek lines are wrapped around both a mid-mounted engine and a pair of rear seats, accomplishing the incredibly difficult task of being a useable 2+2 that looks fantastic. You really can have it all with an Evora.

2006 Lotus Exige Cup 240

There are few quicker ways to get from point A to point B than the Lotus Exige, the pumped-up Elise variant that is both fast in a straight line and exceptionally nimble. But if points A and B are both on a track, then you’d be hard-pressed to find a better candidate than the Cup 240 version. The supercharged, Toyota-derived engine uses special Lotus tuning to deliver an astonishing 243 horsepower, making the Exige good for 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds. Extensively track-prepared from the factory, the Exige Cup 240 sports all the race-only bits you’d expect from a factory Lotus race car, like upgraded brakes and clutch, easier breathing exhaust, a strong roll hoop, and racing safety equipment, all standard.

2002 Lotus Esprit V8

It’s no easy task to keep a 26 year old design at the forefront of the mid-engined supercar field, but Lotus has managed to work miracles on the Esprit. For 1996, the previously four-cylinder-only Esprit gained a massive power upgrade with the introduction of the Lotus Type 918 engine. The completely in-house design isn’t related to any other engine on the planet, designed in just 18 months by Lotus’ highly experienced engine development team. Designed for longevity and modularity, with the addition of twin-turbochargers delivering 10 psi of boost, the Esprit V8 boasts 350 horsepower and 300 ft-lbs. of torque, a serious upgrade over the old turbo four. It takes less than five seconds to pass 60 mph, but just like any Lotus the Esprit’s charms are best explored in the midst of a tight corner, where the expert suspension tuning results in not only extreme handling capability, but also the confidence that the Esprit won’t step out and bite you. While the basic design has defied old age to stay competent, the revised styling brings a modern touch to the low, wide coupe.

2009 Lotus 2-Eleven

The 2-Eleven is by any standard an extreme car. In the United States (and likely other jursidictions), it’s so extreme it can’t be driven on the street, and lives only on racetracks (where it must be admitted it is most at home). However, in Lotus’ home market, for a small fee you can have Lotus equip the 2-Eleven for road use with lights, mirrors, and the like. That being said, it takes a strong nerve to drive this minimalist car, with no top, windscreen, or amenities like a carpet or radio, on the road. In particular, the car’s unique qualities might be a hindrance too, as the 2-Eleven single-handedly seeks to redefine “extreme performance.” Weighing just 1,650 lbs., and with 251 horsepower courtesy of a supercharged 1.8-liter motor, the 2-Eleven is superlative in virtually every performance metric—despite technicalities, the 2-Eleven is truly a racecar. It’s also a worthy successor to its namesake, the original Lotus 11, a similarly light and powerful car for its day.

1980 Lotus Esprit Turbo

One of the simplest but most attractive of all the “wedge” cars of the 1970s is the original Lotus Esprit, and the second series Turbo manages to refine the basic shape while adding a healthy dose of performance. Much more than simply the addition of a turbocharger to the 2.2-liter Lotus Type 912 four-cylinder motor, the Esprit Turbo actually represents an official redesign, conducted by original designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, that includes such revisions as new facias front and rear, larger side skirts, and the side-mounted NACA ducts to provide cooling air to the engine. Under the skin, an entirely new Y-frame chassis not only increases structural rigidity, it is also designed to accommodate the V8 engine that wouldn’t debut for another 16 years—a forward-looking move on the part of Lotus. Handling is what you’d expect from a Lotus—extremely competent and entirely unflustered by mid-course corrections—and power improves to 205 horsepower, a respectable figure for the time. And in case anyone could possibly mistake what they’re looking at when this Lotus roars by, appropriately period graphics unambiguously proclaim to onlookers “TURBO ESPRIT.” Subtle, it’s not.

1966 Lotus Cortina

One of the first “race on Sunday, commute on Monday” factory cars, the Lotus Cortina built its reputation on the track and in people’s daily lives. Henry Ford II assigned Lotus’ Colin Chapman the task of building a Ford that was performance inspired and could give Ford some racing credibility. The Cortina did so in triplicate, winning rally and touring car championships right and left and being driven by the likes of Jim Clark. The Cortina provides a peppy 0-60 time of just under 10 seconds and adroit cornering. Partially in part to its dainty 2,060 pounds of weight, and, without doubt, credit needs to be given to its 115 horsepower which are generated by a twin-cam 1.6-liter 4-cylinder, with thirsty and throaty sounding dual-Weber carbs. While this car can carry four people in relative comfort, it is most happy when being revved high and thrown into a corner with full gusto.

1956 Lotus Eleven

An all-new racing car for 1956, the Lotus Eleven incorporated a tubular steel space frame and stressed aluminum panels for rigidity. The car was powered by a lightweight 1.1 liter Coventry Climax engine and could hit 143 mph, and finished seventh overall at Le Mans. Fully loaded the car weighs around 1,000 pounds. Other versioned cars had engine options with sizes from 750cc all the way to 1,500cc. In its primary 1,100 cc class, the Lotus Eleven was successful on the track and was piloted by drivers such as the great Stirling Moss. To this day, there are few cars that can match its beauty or feather-light package.